For quite some time now, “equality” (when referring to blacks in comparison with whites) has been extended beyond the realm of even handedly applying the law and into the focus of evening out socioeconomic indicators such as income, prevalence in certain fields, educational attainment, etc.
This desire for “equality” has implicitly promoted the socioeconomic averages of white people as THE standard by which black people are measured and is used as the target point of crusading politicians who promise that their tax funded social programs will remedy the undesired disparities.
Rather or not the averages of white people are intrinsically worthy goals for black individuals to seek is virtually never considered in the discussion. I Don’t Want “Equality” (or Equity) is my critique on this issue.
Self-appointed saviors of every stripe,
from all across the nation,
join hands to air their gripes.
They scream with unanimous indignation
about the wrongs of yesteryear
cited today,
preying on fears
and visceral dismay.
Oh how they lecture
about my forefathers’ noble struggles
and then conjecture
that the solution to my troubles
is “equality”
with the whites.
They say “equity”
will be to my delight.
But I won’t shame my ancestors
by limiting my own prosperity
to the capabilities of my oppressors
under some cheap notion of solidarity.
I won’t walk my autonomy back
into the hands of the state
so that the do-gooder hacks
can live well and find more dregs to bait.
I don’t want equality,
I want to be at the apex.
I don’t care for the “equity” ideology,
no entity can preprogram my success.
So long as I’ve got my liberties
and my rights are respected,
my drive will deliver me
whether or not anyone is willing to accept it.
*Photo in video by Robert Koorenny on Unsplash
